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School News for Jan. 27

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meets at 7 p.m. in the borough building at 148 N. Binkley Street in Soldotna (unless otherwise noted). For more information, call 907-714-8888 or visit http://www.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/board.aspx?id=28035. The agenda and packet items are posted on Wednesday afternoon prior to the date of the Board Meeting.

Persons with disabilities who need accommodations to participate at School Board meetings should contact Debbie Tressler at 907-714-8836 or email dtressler@kpbsd.k12.ak.us no later than three business days before the meeting date. The board will meet:

■ February 3;

■ March 3;

■ April 14;

■ May 5 (at Seward High School);

■ June 2;

■ June 3 (Board Planning Session).

Early release dates for KPBSD schools

Six times throughout the academic year, on a Wednesday, schools will meet the minimum day, so that teachers may have approximately 90 minutes of additional time to work on improvement strategies. On these early release dates, school will end 90 minutes earlier. Bus transportation will be adjusted by 90 minutes. Upcoming early release dates are: February 26; and April 16.

Career and Tech training offered

KPBSD Career and Tech Department is offering free after school academies to train students in the Welding, Construction and Medical Field.

Upcoming Academies for the 2013-2014 school year include Welding.

Any high school student is able to participate in any of our academies. If a student successfully completes the 60 hour academy they will receive 1/2 practical art credit.

At the Workforce Development Center (located behind KCHS) there will be a welding academy with Mr. Widaman. This academy runs Feb. 10-May 1. Class days will be Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:30-4:30.

There will be a summer construction academy at the Workforce Development Center. Students will be constructing a green house. Class days will be May 28-30 and June 2-6. Class times TBA.

Funding for the Alaska Construction Academies comes from a grant from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development and the Alaska Youth First Program.

Connections is now scheduling the Winter/January AIMS Web Assessments (Literacy & Math). The Homer office will assess Kindergarten to 3rd grade, Soldotna and Seward offices will assess Kindergarten to 6th grade. The dates are listed above. Please call the Connections Offices (Soldotna: 714-8880, Seward: 224-9080 and Homer: 226-1880) to schedule a time for your student to meet with their advisor; this assessment and conversation will take approximately 25 minutes.

The Connections Spelling Bee is coming up. The date and location have changed. We will now meet on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. in the Borough Assembly room in the Borough Building on Binkley in Soldotna. Please contact Lennie Yoter at 714-8880 or eyoter@kpbsd.k12.ak.us if you have questions.

The Connections Science Fair is open to all Connections Students. Please check with an advisor for rules/guidelines before planning or executing your science fair project. The science fair is not a contest, and all participants will receive a prize for their efforts. If you have any questions please contact Mark Wackler at the Soldotna office (mwackler@kpbsd.k12.ak.us)

Join Alaska Fish and Game and your Connections advisors for an hour of ice fishing on February 19 at Sport Lake. We will meet at the boat ramp on Sport Lake at 10 a.m. Sport Lake is located one mile outside of Soldotna off the Kenai Spur Highway. ADF&G will have the fishing rods and Connections will have the bait. All you need is warm clothes and a fishing license for anglers 16 and older. All are welcome but we do request that you RSVP with Reubin Payne at the Connections office (rpayne@kpbsd.k12.ak.us) 714-8880. Thank you for participating in this event.

Attentions all readers: the 2014 Iditaread is just around the corner and it’s time again for Connections Homeschool’s Iditaread Challenge to all K-6th grade students! Connections Homeschool’s Iditaread Challenge will begin February 28.

Stop by your local Connections Office between now and then for more information and to get your sled ready to hit the trail! The challenge will run through March 31.

It’s time to start thinking about our annual Talent Show again! This has been such an awesome event for the last few years, and has become something our program looks forward to year after year. The show will be held on an evening in mid/late April and contains acts of all sorts including singing, dancing, instrumental, and much more! Any and all Connections students are welcome to participate, including all ages and ability levels. If you’re interested please let Connections know at your earliest convenience. The date for the Talent Show: April 29, show starts at 5:30pm at the SoHi Auditorium. If you are interested or have any questions please email Mark Wackler at mwackler@kpbsd.k12.ak.us or call 714-8880.

IDEA Homeschool

IDEA families remember Tuesday is our Pool Day at the Nikiski Pool. Join in the fun from 1:00pm until 4:00pm. Families may bring balls and floats for the kiddie pool.

If you have not signed up for the trip to the Seward Sea Life Center on Wednesday, February 5th, call the office or go online and use the google doc in the email. This will be a great opportunity for your family to learn all about the amazing marine life and habitats of our great state. Enjoy hands-on exhibits and touch tanks. Arrive in Seward anytime between 10am-5pm to take advantage of this opportunity.

Students in grades 3-8 now is the time to sign up for the Scripps Spelling Bee. This annual event challenges students to learn spelling rules and apply them to both common and uncommon words. Register by calling the office at 260-7555 and plan to participate February 7th.

Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science

Monday — 4:00 pm-5:00 pm -APC work session

Wednesday — Cooking Club and Backcountry Snow Club are meeting from 3:45-4:45.

Thursday — Tap Dance Club is meeting from 3:45-4:45.

Friday — Kinders through 3rd graders will be learning about Dental Health with a visit from Dr. Kobylar’s office.

PTA is in need of gently used books for Bingo For books Night (February 13). If you would like to donate books please drop them by the library.

PTA will be having a raffle for beautiful baskets of gifts on February 13 during Bingo For Books. A note came home last week with information, including the theme for your child’s classroom basket. Families are asked to bring in an item that fits their theme to help fill up the basket. Proceeds will support Kaleidoscope’s 10th anniversary celebration, including the wonderful tie dye t-shirts we all received in the Fall.

Re-enrollment forms were mailed January 14. They are due back to the school by February 14 in order to reserve your child’s position in Kaleidoscope. If your child is not returning to Kaleidoscope, even if it’s because he is moving on to 7th grade, please return the form with the back side filled out so the office knows where to forward his records.

Conferences are February 5-7. Be sure to sign up with your child’s teacher.

The LifeSkill we are focusing on this week is Perseverance: To keep at it.

Kenai Central High

We are well into second quarter, if you are starting to fall behind, please make plans to receive extra help and attend the afterschool study hall in the library. The study hall is open Monday through Thursday from 2:30-3:30. For more information, please contact Mrs. Bisset.

Monday and Tuesday is Mass Band at SoHi. Band students will attend a band rehearsal with all selected band students in the district. The performance will be held at SoHi at 6:30 Tuesday night.

Wednesday KCHS will be on an afternoon assembly schedule to recognize our hockey, wrestling, and cross-country ski teams, as well as our music and drama students.

Thursday the Culinary II class is making an excellent meal for our December Students-of-the-Month.

Our winners were Annabelle Schneiders taking first place, Raleigh Van Natta won second with Takaiya Rich coming in third.

Competitive Volleyball begins this Wednesday. There will be a wrestling meet at SMS on Saturday starting at 9 a.m.

Our 25th annual Talent Show will be held Thursday at KCHS auditorium beginning at 7p.m. Come and be amazed at what KMS kids can do!

Congratulations to our Character Counts winners last week: Jaycee Herrmann and Jonathan Ray. Keep up the great work!

Mountain View Elementary

Parent/Teacher conferences will be held on Feb. 6 - 7. There will be no school for students.

The Library will be holding a book fair Feb. 3 – Feb. 7 during school hours and parent-teacher conferences. If you would like to volunteer to help with the book fair please call the office at 283-8600.

The student council and the Mountain View PTA are collecting box tops for the “Box Tops for Education” project. Please turn your pink box tops from participating products in to the office. It was decided by the student council that the funds collected would be split equally among P.E., Music, and Library.

FAFSA event — The counseling department is hosting a FAFSA completion event Feb. 6 during evening Parent Teacher conferences from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Parents and their students can bring in their tax information and get help filling out their FAFSA.

Nikiski Tip Off Tournament – The Nikiski High School gym was a busy place last weekend as teams and fans from Dillingham, Houston, and Homer joined the Nikiski Bulldogs for the annual Tip Off Tournament. The Nikiski Girls Basketball Team captured the 1st place trophy after winning all three of their games. The Homer Mariners took first place for the boys tournament. Representing the Nikiski Bulldogs on the girls All Tournament Team were Rachel Thompson and Emily Lynch. Seth Carstens was selected for the Boys All Tournament Team. Nikiski’s Katie Costello won the free throw competition for the girls making 22 out of 25 free throws. Congratulations to both teams for a great weekend of basketball!

Nikiski North Star

Congratulations to the 2014 NNS Geography Bee Champion Trinity Langston! Placing second is Griffin Gray and third place is David Hadella. Also congratulations to all the other school finalists: Joseph Sylvester, Brenden Boehme, Millie Fisher, Braylee Smith, Tye Kuhr, and Vincent Hooper.

The school Spelling Bee will take place on Friday in the school library.

Safety Seal will be visiting our school tomorrow. Thank you to Nurse Deni for always helping to keep our students safe.

February is ‘Love of Reading Month’. We will be having a Scholastic Book Fair in the library beginning on Monday, February 3rd and ending on Friday, February 7th. There is always a great selection of books, so we encourage our families to support your child’s love of reading. The fair will be open during the school day and also during parent/teacher conferences.

Redoubt Elementary

Redoubt PTA is hosting their second annual “Winter Carnival” from noon to 4 p.m. February 15. Don’t miss out on the silent auction; dunk tank, games, food, door prizes and raffles. Raffle items include a 32GB iPad Air (value $600.00), wagon filled with camping supplies, and a student Grand Gift basket. iPad 32GB tickets are available to purchase at the school office now or can be purchased the day of the carnival. Tickets for the iPad are $10.00 each. Only 150 tickets will be sold. You can purchase your tickets at the school office.

Volunteers are needed to help with our Winter Carnival. If you would like to help, or if you own a business and would like to donate goods or services, please contact the school office.

Congratulations to Parker Kincaid, Parker took first place in this year’s Geography Bee. Fiona Bertelsen placed second, nice job. The following students deserve a round of applause for making it to the final round, Levi Rosin, Tyler Morrison, Brooke Belluomini, Matthew Lewis and David Schramm.

Bingo for Books will be held February 4, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. All students must be accompanied by an adult. There will be free snacks, free books and free fun for the whole family.

Thank you to our local Nurse volunteers who helped with our student vision and hearing screenings last week, Trina Tachik, Susan Olson and Tana Butler.

PBIS Goal Celebration – Students enjoyed an extra outdoor recess last week to celebrate another goal. Students and staff enjoyed sledding, tobogganing and playing in the snow. Thank you for being Respectful, Responsible and Safe.

Yearbooks are on sale, please pre-order your year book before March 31st. Cost to purchase a yearbook is $15.00. A limited number of yearbooks will be ordered. Order forms have been sent home with students.

February 6 and 7 are Parent Teacher Conferences; no school for students.

River City Academy

Batik students wrapped up their Interim for 2014 with a plethora of finished batiks. Students in this course used the “dye, wax, repeat” model to create beautiful projects. From the most basic of silhouettes to complex fades, waxes and dyes RCA’s students showcased their amazing talents. At the same time, the best part of batik is that they also are able to practice leadership. Seasoned batikers become the student instructors for this class, all the while exploring and adapting their own batik style. In the end, the students are most anxious to show off their works of art to the community.

As Interims come to a close, the office will be sending out emails to those that still owe an Interim fee. These fees are collected to pay for the cost of a particular class and also the cost of using Skyview’s shop. If this is a hardship or there are any questions, please give us a call.

No school February 6-7 for parent/teacher conferences.

First Aid training is coming up for our upper high school students on February 20. More information to follow as it becomes available.

RCA is currently accepting applications for students in grades 7-12 who are interested in a unique school experience. Students who demonstrate skills in being self-motivated, successful time managers and advocate on their own behalf are often an ideal fit for RCA. The performance-based model offers students choice in their education inside of a consistent standards-based curriculum. For more information, please call 714-8945.

Skyview High

Both the boys and girls basketball teams defeated CIA. Hayley Ramsell led Skyview with 12 points to a 31-26 win and for the boys Micah Hilbish scored 18 points and Chad Harley scored 10 points to a 55-27 victory.

Taylor Ferguson, Josh Henderson, Jeremiah Hudson, and Meghan Ussing were selected to participate in the KPBSD Honor Band. Daniel Bukvitch is the guest conductor for both the honor band and mass band at the festival held at Soldotna High School on January 27-28. Both ensembles will have the privilege of performing music written by Bukvitch including the premier of “False Illusions of Cool,” written for the KPBSD Honor Band. Concert will be held at 6:00 pm on January 28 at Soldotna High School. Admission charged at the door.

Skyview will be bussing students to SoHi to enter their course requests for next year. Juniors will go on February 3. Sophomores will go on February 4. Juniors will go on February 5. Mr. Neill, Mr. Andrews, and several other teachers and staff will accompany our students as they enter requests for next year’s classes.

Congratulations also to Rylee Erickson, the winner of last week’s box top drawing.

The KPBSD is holding a public budget meeting on February 19, at 5:30 p.m. in the Soldotna High School library. Everyone interested is encouraged to attend. For questions, please call Lassie Nelson at 714-8838.

No school for students on February 6-7. Parent/Teacher conferences will be conducted these days. Also on these 2 days, during parent-teacher conferences in the gym, we will be having a children’s clothing exchange. Bring your “gently used” and clean clothes your kids have outgrown and exchange them for clothes your kids can wear. It’s simple, free, and all you need is a shopping bag or two.

Site Council meeting on February 4 at 3:45 p.m. in the conference room. Please join us.

Our next PTA meeting will be in the library on February 17, and childcare will be provided. Hope to see you there.

Title 1 Pre-Kindergarten program is accepting applications for the 2014/2015 school year. Please stop by the office to pick one up if you’re interested. To be eligible, students must be 4 years old by September 1, 2013. Please contact Katrina Cannava at 260-5142.

If you’re interested in ordering a SoEl t-shirt or sweatshirt, you may do so at the school office. Orders need to be received at the office by February 14, Valentine’s Day.

We are still in the aluminum can recycling mode. There will be one more collection day, in April. This program set up at Central Peninsula Landfill, pays money directly to the school. You may drop off bagged cans at Soldotna Elementary. Thank you to Miss Renee and Miss Mercedes for all your hard work crushing, bagging, and delivering the cans to the landfill!

Lots of new and amazing art projects are on the walls here at SOEL. One of my favorites are the Inuksuit (which is the plural form) outside Mrs. Straw’s classroom. An Inuksuk is a stone landmark or cairn built by humans, used by the Inuit, Inupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. These structures are used for many purposes: as directional aids, to indicate a place of respect or memorial for a person, or to indicate migration routes or places where fish can be found. We don’t have the actual structures outside the classrooms, but you will see lovely torn paper representations. The kids did such a nice job that I have decided to build one this summer.

Soldotna High

On February 13 from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. we will be holding a College Goal Alaska event, which is geared toward helping students and parents complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). We will be set up in the SoHi library and have FAFSA experts available to help. To complete the FAFSA, you will need your latest tax information.

The FAFSA lets students know if they qualify for grants, scholarships, or low-cost loans with flexible repayment options. Plus, the FAFSA is the application for the Alaska Performance Scholarship and Alaska Education Grants. You can begin filling out the FAFSA by going to www.fafsa.ed.gov and selecting the 2014-2015 FAFSA application. In addition to any aid a student might qualify for by filing the FAFSA, all attendees will be entered in a drawing to win a $700 scholarship.

Soldotna High School is collecting gently used formal dresses, shoes, and accessories for 2014 Cinderella’s Closet. This is a program which helps all area high school ladies with prom attire for free. Please email mbos@kpbsd.k12.ak.us for more info. All donations can be dropped off to the front office 8am-2pm.

Higher Expectations Greater Success Parent Guide (Alaska Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics) is now available at the front office. Alaska’s standards in English and math set high expectations for students from kindergarten to grade 12. Students who meet these goals will be ready for success after high school-whether it is in the military, on the job, or in a union apprenticeship, technical school, or college. Your schools will decide how to meet the standards through a local curriculum and teaching methods that respect your community’s cultures.

SoHi will be locking the Parking lot entrance Door during the following hours: 7:50 a.m. to noon and 12:35 p.m. to 2:25 p.m.

Also note that during school hours the only open door will be the Front Entrance Commons/Flag Pole doors. The above is to improve our overall school security.

There are two ways to order a transcript. Each way serves a different purpose. If you need a transcript sent to a college or NCAA or a similar agency, then you will need to log on to: www.parchment.com to order transcripts to be sent. The request is then forwarded to SoHi. All transcripts that are headed for NCAA, colleges, etc. have to be processed this way.

A final transcript is one that shows your second semester grades. If you order your transcript when we are in second semester, you will need to make sure you choose “next grading period” when you go on to Parchment. That way your transcript request will wait until the grades are in at the end of the year before it is sent.

Soldotna Middle

Gage Hankins was chosen as the January 8th Grade Chamber Student of the Month. He will be honored at the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Tuesday. Congratulations Gage!

Congratulations to SMS School Spelling Bee Winner Jode Sparks and Runner-up Porter Evans! The Alaska State Spelling Bee will be held at the Performing Arts Center on February 28 at 9 a.m. Great job to all Spartan student participants!

Breakfast Program News: Volunteers are needed on Tuesdays in February. Volunteers must be cleared through the KPBSD screening process and are needed from 7:10 a.m. to 7:40 a.m. each morning. If you are interested, please email Mrs. Pothast at spothast@kpbsd.k12.ak.us.

In the first three weeks (December 2013) of the Breakfast Program, over 260 students came in for breakfast and 475 servings of various meal options were distributed! Thanks to all those who have donated food items, made monetary contributions, and especially to our fantastic volunteers who make it all happen! We appreciate you!

Congratulations to all the participants in this year’s regional Elk’s Hoop Shoot. Two of our students, Colvin Moore and Kilee Horning placed first in their age groups and will be representing our school at the state competition. Great Job and good luck!

Monday — Site Council Meeting, 4 p.m.

Monday-Friday — PreRegistration for Kindergarten for 2014-2015 school year. Child must be 5 by September 1, 2014. Please bring immunization record and birth certificate.